NASCAR HOF to Receive Part of Raymond Parks' Trophies

Raymond Parks will receive some recognition in the soon-to-open NASCAR Hall of Fame; recognition long coming to a man whom Dale Earnhardt the elder, called “The Godfather of NASCAR.”

Opening photo: Shown in Raymond Parks’ Atlanta office, author Neal Thompson [shown on the left] writer of the book “Driving With The Devil” a history of the early era of the sport of stock car racing before and during the founding of NASCAR is shown with Raymond Parks. Seen behind Thompson and Parks is a small portion of Mr. Parks’ trophies.

A replica of the No. 22 Red Vogt built, Raymond Parks sponsored Modified, driven by Red Byron [original shown above] was shown in front of the Daytona Speedway at the Daytona 500 on February 15 2009.

Raymond Parks was the car owner of the car that won the first ever NASCAR championship in 1948 in the Modified Division. Parks then went on to win the 1949 championship of the new Strictly Stock Series. The Strictly Stock series is now known as the “Cup” Series. The announcement occurred on Saturday, March 7 2009.

This period photo in front of the Parks Novelty Machine Co. office, Red Byron poses with the Red Vogt prepared Ford modified and many trophies.

The trophies going to the hall will include the trophies for the 1948 championship of the Modified Division, the first championship awarded by NASCAR and the trophy for the championship of the inaugural 1949 Strictly Stock (now Cup) Series season.